Latest

15.27 That's the end of our live coverage today. All the latest news and updates from the trial can be seen on our Norway page.

15.03 Court has adjourned for the day. Breivik is handcuffed and on his way back to prison. David Blair reports:

All in all, that was an effective cross-examination, drawing out the contradictions, distortions and downright lies in the world of Breivik. But the judge was extremely generous - perhaps overly so - in allowing him 65 minutes to regale the world with his views earlier today. That made it all the more important for the prosecutor to redress the balance.

15.00 Sky News reporter Trygve Sorvaag says the hearing is due to finish for the day.

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Trygve Sorvaag - Second day of &lt;a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Breivik" target="_blank"&gt;#Breivik&lt;/a&gt; trial to adjourne in less than 10 minutes. A full day listening to Breivik.&lt;/noframe&gt;

14.36 David Blair sums up the afternoon's developments:

In a few hours of polite but lethal questioning, the prosecutor has exposed Breivik's world of lies and fantasy. He faked a degree from an American university, did his best to avoid taxes and lied about his chances of being elected to the city council with the Progress Party. The one success in his life was a business selling fake diplomas, which he admitted was "morally despicable". This is not the combative stuff of an Old Bailey demolition, but it is no less effective.

14.23 The court has just broken for a 15-minute break. Breivik has just been describing why he left the Progress Party, a populist right-wing party, to pursue his one-man resistance to immigration.

"My proposals were slaughtered, so to speak," he said. "They sold out on so many principles in order to get into power, that I thought they had thrown out the baby with the bathwater."

14.14 Inga Engh is drawing out example after example of Breivik's tendency to bend the truth to hide his failures. Now she's undermining his claim, made in his manifesto, to have been nominated for membership through the Progress Party for a position in the Oslo City Council. Breivik concedes that he wasn't 23 on the list, as he wrote in his manifesto, but actually 37. Previously she made him comment on his claim - made on his CV - to have a business degree from an American University.

13.40 Prosecutor Engh has switched tack, asking Breivik if he is religious. Richard Orange reports that he appeared "momentarily confused", telling the court that alhough a Lutheran, a member of the Church of Norway, he is drawn to Catholicism. He said:

I have not been a religious person, but there is a proverb saying there are no atheists in the trenches.

Breivik has also been questioned regarding his business career. He admitted that his first two companies were "failures", and his fake diploma business a "morally despicable project". But he nonetheless insisted he had been a business success:

Not many Norwegians are capable of earning their first million by 24. It's extremely difficult to reach such levels at an early age.

He claims the diploma business made him 4m Norwegian Kronor (£436,000), before he wrapped it up in 2006.

State prosecutors Svein Holden (L) and Inga Bejer Engh in court in Oslo

13.24 David Blair on an illuminating exchange between Breivik and prosecutor Inga Engh:

The questioning resumes. What was the greatest influence on Breivik's ideology? What was the main source for his worldview? His answer is emphatic: "Wikipedia".

13.20 More on Breivik's early life from Richard Orange.

Prosecutor Inga Engh is now pressing Breivik on why he dropped out of sixth-form college before completing the final year.

"I don't think that's relevant in this case," says Breivik. "I had a good childhood. That is not why I because a militant nationalist."

Breivik says he left because he wanted to start up Behring Marketing, selling telecoms services to "minorities", which then failed after six months.

He claims he had read all the books in his sixth-form college curriculum six months ahead of time, and that was part of a reason why he decided he didn't need to complete his studies. Breivik says he has undergone 15,000 hours of study in his own time to make up for not attending university.

Under more questioning about his lack of education, Breivik responds with a rare flash of humour.

Asked whether he felt the need to have a formal degree, he said no.

"Of course, I could have printed out a diploma for myself." he adds, referring to his fake diploma business. "No, just joking," he says.

13.14 The trial has resumed, with the prosecutor saying she intends to focus on Breivik's early life and education. Sky News reporter Trygve Sorvaag reveals Breivik is unhappy with the line of questioning.

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Trygve Sorvaag - &lt;a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Breivik" target="_blank"&gt;#Breivik&lt;/a&gt;: "My upbringing is not relevant to this case. Has nothing to do with what I did"&lt;/noframe&gt;

12.55pm Richard Orange sums up the developments from the first part of this afternoon's session.

The court has broken for a break, after the prosecution managed to tease out more nuances from Breivik on whether he acted alone or is really, as he claims part of a secret international organisation called the Knights Templars.

Breivik appears to see other racist serial killers as fellow "foot-soldiers" working alongside him.

"If you looked at the 40 legitimate attacks carried out since the end of the Second World War, you can see there's a thin red line between all the actions," he argues.

As for the organisation he claims to represent, Breivik still maintains that there were two other "independent, self-going cells" operating alongside him in Norway.

He is also sticking to the claim that he attended a meeting with three other "militant nationalists" in London in 2002.

As much as possible, though, he is distancing himself from the claim that titles, uniforms, and other paraphernalia about the Knights Templar, the organisation he claims to represent in his manifesto.

He now refers to this as "pompousness" or a "glossy image or presentation of something that is the reality".

"In the manifesto," he says. "I have relayed the KT [Knights Templar] network as a pan-European organisation, but in reality there are merely a few individuals," he said. "That's what I mean my making a pompous presentation."

12.47pm The court has now risen for another recess.Our chief foreign correspondent David Blair reports:

Breivik has disclosed how much he admires al-Qaeda. He described them as the "most successful revolutionary force in the world" and praised their "cult of martyrdom". He also said that he expected his rampage last July to be ended by a bullet from the security forces. "22 July was a so-called suicide attack. I didn't expect to survive that day," he said.

12.36pm Helen Pidd, reportingfor The Guardian,reveals that Breivik considered the journalists' national conference in Norway to be a "more legitimate target than Utoya".

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Helen Pidd - Breivik just said that the journalists' national conference in Norway would be a "more legitimate target than Utoya". Says he tried.&lt;/noframe&gt;

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Helen Pidd - Breivik: "I worked really hard to realise that but I was unfortunately unable to carry out the attack on the conference."&lt;/noframe&gt;

12.30pm The questioning continues to focus on whether Breivik was acting alone or with others, Richard Orange reports.

Breivik said:

I am linked to two others in Norway, who are linked to KT (the Knights Templar). I'm an independent and self-going cell and I'm linked to two others who are also independent, self-going cells, so there are three cells.

He has also explained to the court why he cried during the film of his Youtube trailer, saying he had become "emotional" because he knows that his people and his culture "were dying". He said the soundtrack he used was also special to him, as it was the music he uses in his daily meditation sessions.

Breivik takes the witness box

12.23pm The Guardian's reporter in Oslo, Helen Pidd, suggests Breivik is using examples from the UK to attempt to justify his theories on multi-culturalism.

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Helen Pidd - Unless I misheard, Breivik just singled out Luton as a "no-go zone" where "ethnic Europeans are subject to rape and robbery."&lt;/noframe&gt;

12.17pm Prosecutor Inga Engh has pushed Breivik to explain why his act is good and not evil. He has responded by comparing his actions to the US bombing of Japan, where, he argues 300,000 innocent Japanese were killed in order to prevent further war that would have cost the lives of millions.

It's similar with militant nationalists. We don't act to be evil, we're trying to save our nation and our culture.

There are warlike situations in some of those places where neither the police nor emergency vehicles dare to go through. There isn't a conventional war in Europe now, but we're trying to prevent a war now.

He has also said he doesn't expect to be recognised as a "hero".

What I have done is so very much on the fringe of militant nationalism that I think I will never be recognised as that [a hero]. I am speaking in figurative language now.

I knew that I would be considered a monster, and evil, so of course it's not for my own sake that I do this. It's character suicide if you do this, and I expect that most people will not understand this.

12.05pm David Blair contrasts the relaxed nature of the hearing with the British courts:

The prosecutor is now questioning Breivik. This is not an abrasive Old Bailey-style cross examination. The prosecutor is polite and pensive and both she and Breivik are seated, making this seem like an afternoon conversation. But the prosecutor is skillfully tying him in knots nonetheless, eventually getting Breivik to admit that he gave himself the right to kill people for his political views.

12.00pm Engh is now asking whether the militant nationalists he joined in 2002 pushed him to use violence, Richard Orange reports. Breivik replied:

I have been affected by them. They were militant nationalists before I became one.

Generally, I have found inspiration from other sources... It was my first meeting with militant nationalists so in many ways they did affect me.

Here are several individuals concerned, and you cannot say that they are a unified group.

Others wanted to start up a grass-roots, fighting at street level in a non-violent manner.

11.54am Prosecutor Inga Engh has started the afternoon session by grilling Breivik about whether he acted alone, or was given a mandate by others.

Pressed, on "so, have you given yourself a mandate?", Breivik answered:

I, and others affiliated with me, have given myself a mandate.

I have been in a group. I came into contact with other militant nationalists in 2001. The group that I am part of wants to be able to design a system based on autonomous and individual cells. I have had very limited contact with that group since 2002, but there has been some contact.

Mainly I have given myself that mandate.

11.39am Our reporter Richard Orange files this piece from the courtroom in Oslo, pulling together all the developments from this morning:

The 33-year old's rambling testimony ran to more than double the agreed length, and took in references to figures as diverse as Thomas Jefferson, John Stuart Mill, Mark Twain and Sitting Bull, the American Indian chief.

As Breivik's defence lawyers had warned, he expressed no regret for his massacre of 69 people, mostly teenagers, on the island of Utoya last July.

"Yes, I would have done it again," he said. "These were not innocent, non-political children, but these were people who actively worked to uphold multi-cultural values.

"The youth wing is in many ways similar to the Hitler Youth. It's an indoctrination camp at Utoya."

Breivik compared himself to other racist serial killers in Europe, such as Peter Mangs, the Malmo serial killer who in 2010 picked off immigrants with a sniper rifle, and Germany's NSU group, who killed more than 10 immigrants over the last decade.

"It is important that more patriots in Europe assume responsibility like I did, and men like Peter Mangs in Malmo did," he said. "They are all perfect foot soldiers …. for nationalist rebirth. Europe needs more great heroes like them."

11.26am Breivik has just been brought back into court, followed soon after by the judges. The court has decided that his questioning, which is expected to take around four days, will not be televised.

11.18am Survivors of Anders Breivik's killing spree have said they agree with a decision to dismiss one of the lay judges presiding over his trial:

10.35amDavid Blair has more from inside the courtroom.

Breivik was interrupted four times by the judge, who asked him to be brief and show consideration for the victims. Nonetheless, he was given 65 minutes to expound his views, invoking an array of historical figures ranging from Sitting Bull to Enoch Powell to argue that Europe has turned into a multi-cultural "hell". He even compared the youth wing of the Norwegian Labour party to the Hitler Youth, coming close to arguing that his rampage on the island was justified retribution.

"I cannot plead guilty," he said. "I acted in defence of my culture and of my people and so I ask to be acquitted."

10.30am To recap, Breivik defended his massacre of 77 people, insisting he would do it again and calling the bomb-and-shooting rampage the most "spectacular" attack by a nationalist militant since World War II.

He lashed out at Norwegian and European governments for embracing immigration and multiculturalism.

He claimed to be speaking as a commander of an "anti-communist" resistance movement and an anti-Islam militant group he called the Knights Templar. Prosecutors have said the group does not exist.

Maintaining he acted out of "goodness not evil" to prevent a wider civil war, Breivik vowed, "I would have done it again."

10.24amBreivik has now finished. The court breaks for lunch. Back at 11.20am. (12.20pm in Norway.)

He's (Breivik) now invoking Sitting Bull, the native American chief, in a passage that will surely test Judge Arntzen's patience.

"Were they terrorists because they fought for indigenous rights?" he asked of Sitting Bull and other Indian chiefs. "Were they evil terrorists or were they heroes? In the same way militant nationalists in Europe are seen as evil because they fight for the same ideals."

"There is no place in the world where Muslims are in harmony with the host country. Not one," he said earlier.

"Many muslims don't want the cultural and moral decay that the multi-culturalists and liberals represent."

10.07am People in court are beginning to get impatient as the statement continues well beyond the expected 30 minutes.

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Trygve Sorvaag - Defence lawyer pleads for him to continue. It is only another 5 pages of 5 days in the dock. Asks &lt;a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Breivik" target="_blank"&gt;#Breivik&lt;/a&gt; to cut down.&lt;/noframe&gt;

09.46am More from the statement.

I'm not scared of the prospect of being imprisoned. I was born in a prison and I have spent my life in a prison... this prison is called Norway. It doesn't matter if I am locked into a cell, because you know that all areas will end up in a multicultural Hell that we call Oslo.

Judge Wenche Arntzen interrupts him to ask how long he's going to continue. Breivik says he's on page 7 of 13 pages.

"I suggest that you prepare a closing to your document," the judge says.

"There are six pages left and it's all relevant," Breivik protests, adding that it's the basis of his whole defence.

09.43am Journalist Trygve Sorvaag makes the point that psychiatrists will be studying this speech extremely carefull.

09.33am Here is Breivik's take on the McCarthy witch hunts in the US, as reported by David Blair.

"McCarthy was far too moderate. He thought about deporting all American communists to the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, he did not do so."

09.32am The statement makes no reference to his crimes, his belief he is a Knight Templar, or, interestingly Islam. Instead, it's a rant against left-wing multi-culturalism.

09.26am As expected, the statement has now moved on to multi-culturalism. Richard Orange reports:

“The people have been betrayed by the multi-culturals and the liberals,” Breivik says, adding that people have not been told, that they will “lose their culture” and “their way of life”. “We are considered second rate citizens, it has been that war since World War II.”

Breivik is now criticising how far-Right parties in Austria and Hungary have been campaigned against by other European countries, arguing that these sort of activities mean that Norway isn't really a democracy.

He's weighing into the "left-wing bias" in the Norwegian media as this tweet from Sky News reporter Trygve Sorvaag demonstrates. He is citing a study by Frank Aaberot that only 100 Norwegian journalists voted for the far Right Progress Party, with the restvoting for the left-wing parties, .

Breivik says: Liberals and marxists never wanted to have a democracy, since they feared new Hitlers would pop up and cause the third world war.

1968 was the marxist revolutionary year… a socialist egalitarian system was built...the greater the victim you were the higher up in the hierarchy of power you could be.

09.18am Richard Orange reports on Breivik's statement - during which he claimed "I have done the most sophisticated and spectacular political attack seen in Europe since the Second World War."

Richard writes:

Breivik is attempting to take control of the proceedings, asking for more time to read his statement, asking the judge to not interrupt him, and saying he needs aids.

"I would like to add that I have lowered the rhetoric out of consideration for the victims," he said.

"They try to claim that I fell out of work life, that I am a mean and loser, they have also claimed that I am a narcissist. There is a claim that I am a pathetic child killer, despite not being accused of killing anyone under 14.

09.13am The live-feed to the court has now been cut due to the decision not to televise Breivik's evidence, so as to avoid giving him a "platform". Our correspondents are still in the court though, and will keep us up to date.

09.11am Our chief foreign correspondent David Blair makes the point that the departing lay judge was appointed to hear the case after he made the offending comments. So why was he chosen?

09.09am Richard Orange writes that the magistrate has been replaced - and now Breivik will be allowed to deliver his 30 minute statement (not televised):

Judge Wenche Arntzen has appointed Anne Wisloff to replace Thomas Indrebro, after saying that his call for the death penalty would "weaken the trust in his impartiality".

Now she is allowing Breivik to make his planned 30-minute statement.

09.05am Lay magistrate Thomas Indrebo has been dismissed from proceedings for writing on Facebook last year that Breivik desereved the death penalty.

Judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen told the court: "we understand that the events affected many people... and the statement came before he was a lay judge, but the statements may weaken trust in his impartiality".

Lay magistrate Thomas Indrebo

09.02am The court is in session again.

08.57am More from Richard Orange in court, where it appears there is a problem replacing the lay magistrate who wrote on Facebook that Breivik deserved the death penalty:

The delay in proceedings has now gone on nearly 15 minutes longer than expected. There appears to be some problem replacing Thomas Indrebro with the reserve judge who has been sitting in on the proceedings, apparently because she is a woman. There is a male reserve judge, but he wasn't in court yesterday.

On the court's website, it explains that Norway introduced lay judges more than 100 years ago, as an alternative to the jury system, the idea being that "independent citizens, by acting as lay members of the judiciary and by sitting on juries, should use their common sense and good judgement to determine questions of guilt and innocence".

The idea is to provide a "corrective counterbalance against official power and the establishment".

08.54am It's now around 50 minutes since the judge retired to consider what should happen to the lay magistrate. Judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen had said she intended to retire for half an hour.

08.51am And here he is giving a far-right salute this morning, just as he did yesterday.

08.48am Here's Breivik in court this morning.

08.40amRichard Orange highlights the fact that, as you might expect, the court has magistrates on standby and so, should the decision be taken, the replacement of Thomas Indrebo is not expected to delay proceedings beyond today.

08.28am While we wait for a decision, more on the clarification from the translators regarding Breivik's defence of "necessity" rather than "self-defence". In Norway section 47 of the penal code states:

No person may be punished for any act that he has committed in order to save someone's person or property from an otherwise unavoidable danger when the circumstances justified him in regarding this danger as particularly significant in relation to the damage that might be caused by his act.

08.25am Under the Norwegian legal system, Breivik's case is being heard by a panel of two professional judges and three lay judges - or non-professionals - and it is one of these, Thomas Indreboe, who faces being removed from the bench. He is a receptionist in his day-to-day life and "acknowledges giving such statements".

08.14am More from our chief foreign correspondent David Blair from the courtroom.

The court sat for about 5 minutes, during which the judge disclosed that there is a question mark over the impartiality of her lay co-judge. He has publicly said that the only "just" punishment for Breivik is the death penalty. Lawyers for the defence and - curiously - for the victims both want him removed. The court has now retired to consider that request.

08.07am The court is now addressing the allegations that one of the lay magistrates wrote on Facebook last year that Breivik deserved the death penalty. Both the defence and lawyers acting for the victims have told judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen they believe the magistrate should be stood down from the bench. The court has retired for half an hour to discuss what action will be taken.

Breivik had a large smirk on his face while the discussions were being held.

8.05am Before the court started, journalists were spoken to by the translators who said that "self-defence" was a misleading translation for the grounds for acquittal Breivik is invoking. A better translation would be "necessity", they said as the clause he's referring to is about defence of property and defence of others, not solely about defence of your own person.

8.00am Pictures now coming from the courtroom in Oslo where Breivik launched the second day of proceedings with another far-Right salute after a short briefing from his defence lawyer Geir Lippestad. He is dressed the same as yesterday with a black suit and gold tie.

7.53am Breaking news from the court from Richard Orange:

Norway's VG newspaper is reporting an emergency meeting of the court this morning, following news that a Facebook account used by one of the lay magistrates had been used to demand the death penalty for Breivik.

"The death penalty is the only just sentence in this case!!!!!!!!!!" read the message, which was posted under an article published in VG newspaper the day after the attacks last year.

"WIthout a doubt we will demand his resignation, if it was actually him wrote this, and there is much to suggest this" said Tord Jordet, one of Breivik's four defence lawyers.

There are two male magistrates sitting on the case, Ernst Henning Eielsen and Thomas Indreboe.

7.49am Yesterday, in his opening statement to the court in Oslo, Breivik's defence lawyer Geir Lippestad said that Breivik will invoke self defence and will expand on that in the coming days. Mr Lippestad said Breivik has a "basic right" and a "human right" to give a statement, but more importantly it is also the "most important piece of evidence" that will be given to the court, which will help them decide whether he is "legally sane". More on that here.

7.40am Richard Orange has this from court this morning.

Breivik's victims, their families and journalists are now collecting in the court building. There's a lot of anticipation on whether judge Wenche Arntzen will allow him to read his 30-minute statement. Bjorn Ihler, 20, who survived Breivik's attack on Utoya island by swimming out to sea, said yesterday had been easier than he expected.

"It's a good thing to see him in court because he's in a very different position now from what he was in on the island...when he could shoot us. So, it's very good see him in these safe conditions."

"He sounds very weak, his voice is weak," he continued. "But I don't know how to read the man. He's completely different from me, and anyone else I've met."

7.35am The court is going to switch the cameras off for Anders Breivik's statement, in a bid to prevent giving him a platform to express his beliefs. Our correspondents Richard Orange and David Blair will both be in court though, and will provide updates as the morning goes on.

7.32am The key issue to be resolved during the trial, which is expected to last 10 weeks, is Breivik's mental state. Breivik claims he is sane and targeted the government headquarters in Oslo and an island youth camp to strike against the left-leaning political forces he blames for allowing immigration in Norway.

If deemed mentally competent, he faces a maximum prison sentence of 21 years or an alternate custody arrangement under which the sentence is prolonged for as long as an inmate is deemed a danger to society.

If found to be insane he will be held in a secure mental hospital.

7.30am Anders Breivik is expected to take the stand on this morning. The right-wing fanatic is planning to read a prepared statement as he begins giving evidence to an Oslo court later, according to his lawyer Geir Lippestad.

The 33-year-old has admitted carrying out the massacre, but he denies criminal responsibility claiming the slaughter was in "self-defence".

Between 2006 and 2007, the 33-year-old Norwegian mass killer spent his days and nights immersed in a world of fantasy monsters, wizards, and knights performing violent "missions".

During the time, Breivik, who has admitted killing 77 people last July, lived at his mother's Oslo flat, the court heard, supporting himself from his savings.

World of Warcraft – a virtual world where 10.3 million players attempt to achieve the position of "Justicar" – has been criticised for its addictiveness. Prosecutor Svein Holden described the game as "violent".

Breivik broke into a broad smile when Mr Holden projected an image of "Justicar Andersnordic", Breivik's avatar in the game, onto a screen in the courtroom.

The details of his role-playing past were part of an opening presentation that portrayed Breivik's life in the decade before his attack as a drab succession of failures and isolation, starting with his early job in telephone sales, and followed by the setting up of three business start-ups, each of which was wound up without yielding any profit.

7.19am Author Brian Masters has also written a piece this morning, arguing that the awfulness of Breivik's crimes shouldn’t allow him to escape moral responsibility for the murders.

There is no dispute that Anders Breivik killed 77 people last July, 56 of them coldly and efficiently with direct shots to the head. Indeed, he is proud of what he did, and has said, with a combination of smugness and defiance, that he wished he could have slaughtered more. The dispute which has arisen centres on his state of mind at the time he pulled the trigger. One psychiatric report declared that he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and was therefore not responsible for his actions; a later assessment came to the opposite conclusion, that he knew perfectly well what he was doing. Both opinions will be aired at the trial in Norway which started yesterday.

A diagnosis of schizophrenia would carry the implication that the man was entangled by delusions and hallucinations which controlled his behaviour. Such was the defence advanced before the trial of Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, in 1981. It was quickly thrown out by Mr Justice Boreham. One must hope the trial judge in Oslo will take a similar view, for Breivik’s reasoning may be abhorrent, but it is sequential and organised.

7.17am For an overview of day one, our chief foreign correspondent David Blair, who is in court in Oslo, has written this piece on Anders Behring Breivik being forced to confront cold reality of his crimes.

The fate of his 77 victims, 67 of whom were shot in cold blood on Utoya island outside Oslo, was disclosed in remorseless detail. The self-styled "Knight Templar" was also compelled to watch searing footage of the moment that the bomb he planted exploded.

Breivik sat in an Oslo court, barely 200 yards from the exact spot where his device detonated, and watched as CCTV film of the blast was shown over and over, from every angle. Bystanders were cut down in a blinding flash amid swirling clouds of debris.

By the end of a sequence of images deemed too distressing for broadcast, even Breivik was visibly struggling to maintain his air of cocksure defiance.

7.15am Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the second day of the trial of Anders Behring Breivik, the far-Right extremist who confessed to killing 77 people in Norway on July 22. The day is due to start at 7am GMT (8am BST, 9am Norway). For a reminder of those horrific events, and the aftermath the following week, our live coverage from July is below.